Des mots intellegents...

"Moi je trouve que c'est une chance d'avoir deux visions du monde, même si des fois c'est insupportable, parce qu'on a pas une place. Je suis sur deux chaises tout le temps, je suis en flottement tout le temps. "
- Marjane Satrapi

Dear France,

First let me just start this off by saying that I hope that we'll always be friends. And that what we've shared together... it's been really great. You'll always have a special place in my heart.

That being said, I think we both know that it's time for us to go our separate ways.

It's not you. It's me.

Sincerely,

Carolyn

So after nine months of living, working, breathing, eating, laughing, yelling, crying, running, sleeping, thinking, complaining, admiring, eating, writing, reading, walking, traveling, and eating in a different country, I should probably have some profound end-of-the-experience kind of things to say.

But I don't.

It's been great. I'm ready to come home. And by Jove if some baggage handler at the Clermont-Ferrand airport tries to stop me there will be some pretty pictoresque French coming their way. I've been practicing angry phrases all day. I hope I won't need to use them.

I will fight to the end! Even if that end is just a seat about an Irish discount flight across the Atlantic ocean! And I pity the imbecile that tries to get between me and the polyester butt-holder that is properly mine!

And all the old people on this flight better be in tip-top shape. There will be no emergency landing in Newfoundland.

See you all on the other side.

There is a transportation workers strike currently scheduled for tomorrow.

If a couple of baggage handlers decide that their right to a cushy retirement is more important than my ability to fly out of this country...

...someone is going to get hurt.

(Don't they know that their reforms are only delaying the workers' revolution and prolonging their own exploitation? Jeeez. They need to read Marx again.)

It's taken me 9 months but I can finally know French well enough to be able to argue with our program director when he makes outrageously false statements. It's a nice feeling.

The wine helps too.

Travel = priceless.

My time here in France can be easily split in to two portions: my stay in France, and my travels to exotic exciting places. Here's a brief summery of the travel portion:

6 and a half weeks of vacation (not counting long weekends).

12 countries visited - (The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, The Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Bulgaria, Turkey, Croatia, Montenegro).

7 discount airlines flown - (Smart Wings, Wizz Air, Click Air, Comet Air, Germanwings, Veuling, Easy Jet).

15 churches or cathedrals visited. At least. Probably more.

3 time zones spanned.

2 cable cars and 3 funiculars ridden.

1 mountain snowboarded on.

45 minutes spent in Bulgaria.

11 and a half languages not understood.

1 ride up a hill to look at Bosnia.

13 hours spent in the Cologne/Bonn airport.

1 Pick pocket foiled.

2 Iranians and 1 Turk named Cha Cha met.

1 pair of sneakers almost destroyed.

Countless pretzels, ice cream cones, and falafel sandwiches consumed.

Countless miles walked.

Tons of totally weird, excellent stories.

And a partridge in a pear tree.

In one week's time I will be back in 'Merica.

I'm going to have to remember ...
...to put the month before the day when I write the date.
...look both ways before crossing the street.
...not make blatant remarks about people in the street because they don't speak English.
...to not put my elbows on the table during meals.
...to actually get places on time.
...how to drive.
...how to spell English words. Like "apartment".
...all of your names. Just kidding. Mostly.